


Cease & Desist Letter (for use by the WSFS)

by hardlyhurtmenow



Category: Fandom - Fandom, Original Work
Genre: Dear WSFS: lawyer consults are cheap or free, HugO3, Hugo Award Drama, So here we are, but the MPC are idiots, hugos 2019, sometimes the cheapest way to get something done is with money, to do shit for you, you really shouldn't be relying on outside (or inside) fans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-20
Updated: 2019-09-20
Packaged: 2020-10-24 13:10:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20706539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hardlyhurtmenow/pseuds/hardlyhurtmenow
Summary: They obviously need it.  I hope they use this (or something like it) as necessary.





	Cease & Desist Letter (for use by the WSFS)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [HugO3](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20691011) by [scifantasy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/scifantasy/pseuds/scifantasy). 

> I am not a laywer. I am a fan who is both entertained and annoyed by this utter ridiculousness. If the WSFS needs to pass the hat for a lawyer, perhaps they should try _drafting their own C&D_ and sending that to the people who are selling Hugo Award-related merchandise or trying to put that they are a Hugo Award-Winning author on their books.
> 
> I'm sure this sounds utterly mad, but here we are.
> 
> In case the following needs to be said: this in no way constitutes legal advice. From my limited understanding, cease & desist letters are largely toothless "stop that" notifications anyway. Sending one is not an act of legal war. It's not even a shot across the bow; it's not even legal fisticuffs. It's the French asshole in _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_ yelling, "Go away, or I shall taunt you a second time:" it's a polite but sternly-worded document in which you explain that what they are doing is wrong and harmful and tell them you need them to stop, with a totally optional threat to pursue legal remedies if they don't stop.
> 
> Seriously, you don't need to be a lawyer to send one of these. But in case you'd like to run it past a lawyer, I hear scifantasy is around here yet again, and he's a lawyer. Maybe he'll even look this one over for y'all and tell you if you really can send it out.

Dear [name],

It has been brought to our attention that you have been using the trademark "The Hugo Awards" in association with the marketing or sale of your products and intellectual property. Please be advised that "The Hugo Awards" is a registered trademark (U. S. Reg. No. [whatever, I don't like you enough to look this up for you]) of our business.

Our federal registration of this trademark provides us with certain proprietary rights. We are entitled to restrict the use of the trademark, or a confusingly similar trademark, in association with products or properties that could be mistaken for ours. Our trademark serves as an important and distinctive representation of our intellectual property as well as the goodwill and reputation of our awards. We, therefore, find it imperative to protect it against any misrepresentation that may cause substantial harm to our business by facilitating the loss of the trademark's effectiveness.

Your unauthorized use of our federally registered trademark amounts to an infringement on our trademark rights, and therefore, we respectfully request that you immediately cease and desist in any further use of the "The Hugo Awards" or confusingly similar verbiage in association with the marketing, sale, distribution, or identification of your products, merchandise, or intellectual property.

We understand it is possible you are unaware of this conflict. We therefore respectfully request that you respond by email assuring us of your immediate actions taken to cease and desist the use of "The Hugo Awards," or any confusingly similar trademark, within ten (10) calendar days of the receipt of this email.

We hope that this issue may be amicably resolved so we may avoid further legal remedies as provided by state law and the U. S. Trademark Act.

Sincerely,

[Name and title, let's say Kevin Standlee because he handles the mark, though of course Kevin Standlee need not actually be involved]

* * *

"What an embuggerance," said the illegal purveyor of merch containing somebody else's trademark, "etsy won't go to bat for me for this one."

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [C/D and S&M](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20707547) by Anonymous 


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